Lentil Soup

SHOURABAT 'ADAS

3 cups lentils

1/2 cup rice (optional)

1/2 cup samneh, or other shortening

1 cup chopped onions

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Water

Another good old fashioned soup is this one developed, of
necessity, by Lebanese mountain villages when their winter
diet consisted mainly of those foods which they dried in the
summer and stored in earthenware jars or homespun sacks for
winter eating.

Soak lentils in cold water overnight. Wash and pick over.
Place in pressure cooker with water to cover them about an
inch. Cook under pressure for 15 minutes. Pass the soup through
a sieve or food mill. Add water to desired consistency. Fry
onions in hot fat until bro~vn and add to soup. Simmer for 10
minutes. Add salt. Serve thick and hot with squares of crisp
fried bread.

To prepare in open kettle: Wash lentils. Pick them over.
Boil until soft. Pass through sieve or food mill. Add fried onions
and salt. Add more water if necessary and simmer for 10 minutes.
To either method, add cooked rice if desired (one half cup
before cooking). To enhance flavor, braise a beef or lamb bone
in a small amount of fat and add to soup at beginning of cooking.
Dried pea soup may be prepared in the same way but omit rice.